Expression Of IL-37 In Serum And Vitreous In Patients With Type 2 Diabetic Retinopathy

Objectives:IL-37,A novel angiogenic factor found recently,this study is aim to investigate the expression of IL-37 in diabetic retinopathy,and to analyze its clinical significance.Methods:1.30 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)were recruited and were divided into three groups according to the stage of DR: T2 DM patients without diabetic retinopathy(DWR,n=10),T2 DM patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy(NPDR,n=10),T2 DM patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy group(PDR,n=10).In addition,10 healthy patients were included as a control group.The peripheral blood of all the subjects was extracted in the morning after fasting for at least 8 hours.2.The acquisition of vitreous were from 15 patients with PDR and 15 patients with macular anterior membrane or idiopathic macular hole as a control.3.we still collected the vitreous samples from eight patients with PDR before receiving an intravitreal injection of Conbercept and 3~7 days after intravitreal injection,the concentrations of IL-37 in all the serum and vitreous samples were measured by ELISA finally.Results:1.The level of IL-37 in serum from diabetes mellitus with DWR(65.09±9.83 pg/ml)、 NPDR(109.87±13pg/ml)and PDR(115.88±17.37pg/ml)were higher than that in normal group(54.62±6.79pg/ml),and the concentration of IL-37 in serum in PDR group was significantly higher than that in normal controls(P <0.005).the serum concentration of IL-37 in DWR group was slightly higher than in normal controls,However,it did not reach the statistical difference(P >0.05).2.Our results showed that a significant increase of IL-37 level in the vitreous sample from PDR group(370.94±22.63pg/ml,P < 0.001)when compared with that in the vitreous sample from patients with macular anterior membrane or idiopathic macular hole or rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.3.There was no significant difference in the concentration of IL-37 between the vitreous body 3~7 days after intravitreal injection and collected before intravitreal injection.Conclusion: IL-37 was significantly increased in diabetic patients with PDR,and the expression of IL-37 was related to the severity of DR,indicating that IL-37 was involved in the progression of DR.Moreover,there was no significant change in IL-37 concentration before and after anti-VEGF treatment,which demonstrate that the treatment of anti-VEGF may not affect the expression of IL-37.